---
title: They are perfect masters of that kind of argument which consists in… — Kaffir folk-lore · tree and pragmatics
description: They are perfect masters of that kind of argument which consists in parrying a question by means of putting another. Who acts: skins, kind. A sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, Introductory Chapter Regarding the Kaffirs., with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every claus
---

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# Kaffir folk-lore, Introductory Chapter Regarding the Kaffirs., sentence 228

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They are perfect masters of that kind of argument which consists in parrying a question by means of putting another.

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**Who acts:** skins, kind · **What happens:** be, consist, parry, mean, put · **To what, where:** perfect masters, question, another · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, Introductory Chapter Regarding the Kaffirs.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (skins, kind), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree.

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**Mova's own parse.** This tree may be wrong.

## The tree {#tree}

```conllu
# sent_id = book:pg71335:2:228
# text = They are perfect masters of that kind of argument which consists in parrying a question by means of putting another.
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	perfect	perfect	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	masters	master	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	that	that	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	7	det	_	_
7	kind	kind	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	argument	argument	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
10	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	11	nsubj	_	_
11	consists	consist	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	acl:relcl	_	_
12	in	in	SCONJ	IN	_	13	mark	_	_
13	parrying	parry	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	11	advcl	_	_
14	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	question	question	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obj	_	_
16	by	by	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
17	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	13	parataxis	_	_
18	of	of	SCONJ	IN	_	19	mark	_	_
19	putting	put	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	17	ccomp	_	_
20	another	another	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	19	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | skins *= skin* | perfect masters |  |  |  | of that kind of argument | tree rules |
| 2 | **consist** | present | that kind of argument |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **parry** | gerund | that kind of argument *not said here* | a question |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **mean** | present |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 5 | **put** | gerund |  | another |  |  |  |  | vn invest-13.5.4-1 «NP V PP»: agent=Agent another=Goal |

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One row per clause the reader finds. «not said here»: a role filled from the clause above. «roles by»: a VerbNet class and frame when one fits the verb, else the reader's rules on the tree.

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**Text:** «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, Project Gutenberg book 71335 (public domain in the USA). **Tree:** Mova's own parse, Elamur Cosmic License. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), the chapter read in order.

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